http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,590380,00.html?test=latestnews
The North Carolina Medical Board recently reviewed a case where doctors and interns tried to induce labor on a patient, and then performed a Caesarean section, but found there was no baby inside the woman's womb, WTVD-TV reported.
Dr. Gerianne Geszler, who was in charge at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center the night of the incident, told the television station that several doctors examined the woman before the attempted C-section.
"They did an epidural on her, and when they opened up and made the incision, they saw a non-pregnant uterus," Geszler said.
Doctors quickly closed the woman's incision.
The North Carolina Medical Board issued the doctors a letter of concern, stating, "you attempted to perform a Caesarean section delivery on Patient A after a failed attempt at induction of labor ... and at the time of surgery, it was discovered the patient was not pregnant."
Geszler said an intern did an ultrasound before the surgery and could not find a heartbeat, and it was at this time that the patient convinced doctors to induce her.
The medical board said the intern did not have enough experience to make the "appropriate diagnosis."
It was determined that the patient suffered from pseudocyesis, which is the medical term for "false pregnancy." A person suffering from pseudocyesis may often have all the same signs and symptoms as a person who is actually pregnant, but there is no fetus.
Administrators at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center refused to comment on the incident
The North Carolina Medical Board recently reviewed a case where doctors and interns tried to induce labor on a patient, and then performed a Caesarean section, but found there was no baby inside the woman's womb, WTVD-TV reported.
Dr. Gerianne Geszler, who was in charge at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center the night of the incident, told the television station that several doctors examined the woman before the attempted C-section.
"They did an epidural on her, and when they opened up and made the incision, they saw a non-pregnant uterus," Geszler said.
Doctors quickly closed the woman's incision.
The North Carolina Medical Board issued the doctors a letter of concern, stating, "you attempted to perform a Caesarean section delivery on Patient A after a failed attempt at induction of labor ... and at the time of surgery, it was discovered the patient was not pregnant."
Geszler said an intern did an ultrasound before the surgery and could not find a heartbeat, and it was at this time that the patient convinced doctors to induce her.
The medical board said the intern did not have enough experience to make the "appropriate diagnosis."
It was determined that the patient suffered from pseudocyesis, which is the medical term for "false pregnancy." A person suffering from pseudocyesis may often have all the same signs and symptoms as a person who is actually pregnant, but there is no fetus.
Administrators at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center refused to comment on the incident
I wanna know what kind of doctor doesn't do a quick ultrasound before a C-section? most L&D units can get a portable U/S pretty quickly and it doesn't sound like this was an emergency. The attending should have, at the least!, have eye-balled the U/S that supposedly was done. How else would they know the position of the baby, where the placenta lay, any anatomic differences? You don't just go in willy-nilly with a knife and start cutting! What do you want to bet that the intern didn't know what he was looking at and was too embarrassed to say anything? It is not unheard of for an intern to make something up(if they think they can get away with it.) With false pregnancy, it's not unusual for the stomach to get big, breasts enlarge, periods stop, and the woman can have a lot of symptoms of pregnancy, including morning sickness and weight gain. It's not that they "pretend" to be pregnant--they really believe they are, so much that it induces all these physical changes.
Sent me home with all this paperwork telling me I was NOT pregnant.
